Sky Drifter..
I am glad you ask the question..."Where was the co-pilot during the described manoeuvre"..??
At the present time, it is all just a theory that the co-pilot was not in the cockpit..As we all know the CVR and later the FDR were not working or were switched off ?? so we have no real knowledge of what went on and who was in the cockpit...and we will never really know what went on in the cockpit because of the lack of CVR and FDR data..
If you go by what was on the CVR until it went off, the co-pilot was in the cockpit and the Captain was out of the cockpit or at least leaving it.. I assume he (the Captain) did actually leave the cockpit because, the Co-Pilot was several minutes later on the radio with air traffic control..
The TVNZ programme was naturally produced with the intent of defending the Co - Pilot and embarrassing the Government of Singapore and the airline.. Personally, I have no problem with this as any exposure to the current situation to the public is good exposure. Whilst the programme may have been partially imbalanced, it still serves to keep the subject in the public eye..and to be honest, the Singaporeans, the Indonesians and all the other countries involved do deserve some criticism for their handling of this particular crash investigation and the for the manner in which the families (Next of Kin) have been treated and for the manner in which they have all shown that, the apparent interest or commitment in enhancing aviation is simply not there at all..
For whatever reason, there appears to be no apparent sense of urgency or commitment to get the truth made public and actions taken to make changes to improve the flying safety of the public by all concerned.
I am disgusted with the entire affair...